Cuba News – As the food crisis persists Cuba is allowing some forms of foreign investment in the wholesale and retail sectors
According to the Miami Herald online, as the food crisis deepens, the junta are set to allow foreign investment
As we are all aware, it has been almost 60 years since Fidel Castro nationalised the Cuban retail industry. Now, because of the current problems with food supplies and other essentials, the communist government, realise that they cannot solve the problems using their centralised government and are opening up to some form of outside investment in the food and retail industries.
From the Miami Herald
Six decades after Fidel Castro nationalized Cuba’s private retail industry, the island’s communist government will again allow some foreign companies to invest in the wholesale and retail sectors, Cuban officials said Monday evening, acknowledging the island’s centralized economy cannot solve the widespread shortages of food and essential goods that Cubans struggle with daily.
Cuban Vice Minister of Foreign Trade Ana Teresa González Fraga said the government decided to open up wholesale and retail trade to foreign companies, with some restrictions, in a bet to rescue local industries and rapidly increase the availability of food and other goods at stores.
“We want these measures to have an immediate impact on shortages and contribute to improving offers in stores,” González Fraga said during the evening television show “La Mesa Redonda” (Round Table). She lamented that previous measures taken by the government did not improve “the complex situation in the country.” See more
Bolnews.com Cubans queue hours for food
HAVANA: Cubans are no strangers to queuing for everything from bread to toothpaste, often standing for hours under a blazing sun with no access to a toilet or drinking water, and always with the fear of leaving empty-handed.
It is a daily ordeal Cubans have endured for about 60 years of communist rule, now worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, a steep economic downturn and tightened US sanctions.
“I spent almost all night here just to buy something. It is not easy, it is a big sacrifice just to be able to eat,” shopper Edelvis Miranda, 47, told AFP at a market in Havana last week.
The homemaker had taken her place in the queue at about 1:00 am, and finally left around 11 hours later, just before noon.
“It was worth it because I found everything. Now some rest, and then back to the queue again,” she said on her way home with two litres of oil, two packets of chicken, some minced meat and detergent. See more
Let’s hope that these shortages can be rectified and, quickly. I’ll keep the Cuba news coming as and when it warrants a post.